Your backyard poultry are of great interest to you, providing delicious eggs and meat, as well as garden fertilizer, pest control and daily enjoyment to you and your family. But unfortunately, your chicken coop is also quite interesting to other creatures, including coyotes, cats, dogs, foxes, hawks, minks, weasels, owls, opossum, rats, raccoons, skunks, snakes and many other predators.
Raise poultry long enough, and you’re likely to lose one now and then to predators. However, if you take the protection of your poultry seriously, losses can be kept to a minimum.
The list of predators that can attack our poultry is long, and air and ground attacks can occur day and night. If something is attacking your poultry, the first step you need to take is to find out which predator is to blame. In many cases, predators will leave signs and tracks behind as evidence.
When these signs are not present, much can be inferred by how the birds are attacked. Different predators are active at different times of the day, and their hunting and feeding behavior differs. Once you know which predator is attacking your poultry, you can secure the chicken coop and take action to prevent future issues.
What Hunts When
Bobcats, coyotes and foxes prefer to hunt after dark, and they usually take birds away to eat elsewhere. Overnight, raccoons and weasels are also significant threats. Raccoons will often pull a bird’s head or legs through a wire fence and leave its body behind, while weasels sometimes kill many birds by biting them at the backs of their heads.
Birds of prey can also be very serious predators. Large hawks will attack birds from above during the daytime hours and eat them in place, as evidenced by scattered feathers. Great horned owls are also known to take birds at night, either carrying them away or eating them on the spot.
Dogs and cats can also be a very big problem in urban areas. Skunks and opossums will eat eggs and sometimes birds, while black bears will occasionally recognize poultry as food.
Wildlife cameras can be used to help find out the predator. Because motion sensors activate them, cameras can also be used at night. While they can’t prevent predators, the knowledge they can provide is beneficial in preventing future issues. 
Regardless of which method you choose, knowing your enemy is critical if you expect to win the war against predators.
Protection Priorities
Once you have identified which predator is attacking your chicken coop, you can take actions to prevent future issues. Probably the two most important parts of protecting your flock from predators are correct housing and fencing. Whether you buy it ready-made or build your own, there are a few simple things you need to know to keep your poultry happy and safe.
Fencing
Quality fencing is the foundation for effective predator control. Fencing is almost always a necessity, especially if your birds are allowed to range and forage outside the chicken coop. A quality fence will keep the flock confined to an area of your choice, prevent difficulties with neighbors and keep out practically all predators (if constructed properly).
Several types of wire mesh (welded wire mesh, poultry wire, hardware cloth, electric netting) with openings smaller than 1 inch tend to work best.
Make sure that your fence is tall enough to prevent predators from entering. Coyotes, for example, can easily jump over a 4-foot fence.
If possible, consider covering the top of the pen with netting or wire mesh, as well. This will protect your birds from air predators, such as hawks and owls. A top is also highly recommended because it protects from air predators and will also help keep wild birds from entering the pen or chicken coop and interacting with your poultry.
Wild birds can carry diseases that may be harmful or even fatal to poultry. Thus, the less contact that occurs between your birds and wild birds, the better. The fencing material should be long enough to turn outward from the pen on the ground and bury the bottom 6 to 12 inches so that predators can’t dig under the fence.
Read more: Check out this essential fencing information for all your livestock needs.
Housing
It’s a great idea to keep your birds locked up in a chicken coop secured against predators every night. If your birds have a fixed outdoor area (run), the fence should go at least a foot into the ground and then turn 90 degrees outward for at least another 8 to 10 inches to prevent predators from digging.
By having the wire turn outward, predators will dig into the corner of the wire and will not be able to dig any further, preventing them from entering.
If the coop’s windows aren’t made of glass, you’ll need to cover them with wire netting to keep predators out. If you open the windows, a predator-proof wire cover is required. Window screens do not stop most predators.
Movable housing is an increasingly popular choice for small flocks. When using this form of housing, it’s very important that the structure’s edges are in contact with the ground to make it predator-proof. Additionally, many poultry keepers that use movable housing keep their poultry in pasture areas that are surrounded by a fence (often electrical) to provide them more protection against predators.
Electric netting made for poultry can work well for containing the flock and offer some protection against predators, provided an adequate charge is maintained throughout the whole fence line.
Safety Tips
I am a professional small-scale poultry farmer and am well acquainted with many predators. I’ve tried many methods and techniques, and only after three years of living with my chickens, as well as ducks and geese, did I completely get rid of predators.
So here I have included several useful tips to protect your poultry from predators, successfully tested in my own experience.
Raise It Up
Raising the coop off the ground on stilts is a great way to prevent most predators from entering the chicken coop. Just make sure the chicken coop floor is secure and that any holes that snakes or rats can get through are repaired.
Seal Holes
Make sure you regularly check your chicken coop for any access holes. When you feed your birds, clean them up, close them at night, and make sure you regularly check the chicken coop for any access holes.
It is very simple but very important. Every small hole can be used by predators to gain access to your birds. A weasel, for example, can easily squeeze through a 1⁄2-inch hole. You’ll be surprised at how easy it is for small predators such as snakes and weasels to crawl into the coop and eat eggs, and, in some cases, even chicks.
Bring ’em Home
Train your flock to return to their coop every evening and make sure to close it up. After allowing your birds to range for the day, they’ll naturally return to their coop to lay eggs and roost at night. Just make sure to close it up in the evening once the birds have settled.
Hire a guard
Within the towns and city limits, there are usually restrictions on having roosters, as they can be a little bit noisy for neighbors. There aren’t too many people who like to be woken up at the crack of dawn by a rooster crowing. However, if you live in the country, it’s usually OK.
On the contrary, waking up at the crack of dawn by a rooster crowing is even pleasant and a big part of country life. The importance of keeping a rooster is very simple. A good rooster will protect the flock and will become an excellent guard.
As a great guard, you can also use a guardian dog. This dog will do the same job as a rooster, only better. 
A dog can range farther away around the coop or fence and the scent of a dog is very disturbing to most predators. This is a very tried and tested method of protecting your poultry from predators. Guardian dogs work well at deterring even birds of prey.
The most important part of this method is to make sure that the dog is friendly with your birds before leaving your poultry and dog unattended.
It’s advisable to choose dogs that are guardian breeds, such as Great Pyrenees, Anatolian Sheepdogs or Maremma Sheepdogs. Llamas, alpacas and donkeys are other interesting options for guardian animals.
Read more: Ready to get a livestock guardian animal? Here’s what to know.
Increase Visibility
Create a bad environment for predators by cutting down any tall grass, bushes or overgrown areas around your chicken coop. Almost all predators are uncomfortable crossing an area without cover.
If you want to create a little shade for your birds, you can plant some plants or bushes inside the chicken run. I have tried it with my birds and they really love the shady spot and nibbling on the leaves.
Use Objects with Motion
Another very simple and easy-to-install method is to put around the chicken coop some moving objects that will scare away most predators. Flags, pinwheels, CDs on a thin wire and everything that moves in the wind can be used.
This method is very simple, but you can’t even imagine how effectively it works.
Moreover, this can even delight your birds. Most poultry, such as ducks and chickens, are very curious and, therefore, they’ll be very happy to see something that is colorful and moving.
Install Motion Sensor Lighting
A night light (motion-sensor-activated) or a set of predator-
deterrent lights flood the chicken coop with light after dark. This will keep most nighttime predators away from your chicken coop.
Whichever method you choose, winning the war against predators is the responsibility of every poultry farmer. With the ammunition in this article, you should be ready to defend.
More Information
Regional Predators
You can find out the predator attacking your poultry by knowing which predators live in your area. It’s not very effective, but it’s worth a try.
- Bears: in the heavily forested areas of the following: the Northeast from Maine to Northern Georgia, the northern Midwest, the Rocky Mountain Region, the West Coast, Alaska and parts of Florida, Missouri and Arkansas
- Birds of Prey: throughout the U.S.
- Bobcats: throughout the U.S., except Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Connecticut, New Jersey, Rhode Island, Delaware, Maryland, and parts of Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, Wisconsin, Kentucky, Colorado, California, Virginia, and the very northern and southern parts of New York and Pennsylvania
- Cats: throughout the U.S.
- Coyotes: throughout the U.S.
- Opossums: from New Mexico and Texas to as far north as Nebraska and throughout all the east to New England and Florida. Also, on the western coast of California to Washington
- Raccoons: throughout the U.S., except parts of Wyoming, Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, California, and most of Utah and Nevada
- Red Foxes: across North America, except most of the southwestern U.S. and Mexico
- Rodents (Mice & Rats): throughout the U.S.
- Skunks: throughout the U.S., except in parts of California, Nevada, Louisiana and North Carolina
- Snakes: throughout the U.S.
- Weasels & Minks: throughout the U.S. except most of Arizona and small parts of New Mexico and Nevada
- Wolves: northern Wisconsin and Minnesota, as well as Western Montana, Northern Idaho, North-western Wyoming and parts of Arizona, New Mexico, Washington, Oregon and North Carolina
All Signs Point To
You can find out which predator is attacking your poultry by the signs they may leave.
- Coyote: whole bird missing, with scattered feathers;
often dig into runs - Cat: chickens or young birds missing
- Dog: birds usually mauled but not eaten
- Fox: whole bird missing, with scattered feathers
- Hawk: bird eaten on site, lots of feathers
- Mink/weasel: dead birds neatly piled, back of head and neck eaten
- Owl: head and neck eaten, loss of feathers, sometimes whole birds missing; happens at night
- Opossum: whole birds consumed feathers and all,
sometimes leave only the wings or feet - Rat: chickens or young birds missing, partially eaten chicks
- Raccoon: breasts and entrails eaten, backs bitten,
scattered feathers - Skunk: entrails eaten but not muscles or skin, lingering odor
- Snake: egg or young birds are missing
This article originally appeared in the November/December 2021 issue of Hobby Farms magazine.
